What do you mean Tails Doll is canon 😟
... Oh, pal.
Tails Doll is indeed canon. He originates from a game, known as "Sonic R" on the Sega Saturn that was eventually ported to PC and later released in "Sonic Gems Collection" on the GameCube (and PS2, for all y'all outside the US). The game itself is a very bare bones racing game, but it also had a banger soundtrack, like, seriously, listen to this thing, it's pure 90s VGM gold. And the PC version of the game let you pop the CD-ROM into your CD player as a bonus, because the game disc also doubled as an OST disc.
Anyway, Tails Doll originated from "Sonic R". He's a little of a mix of OP and underwhelming. He has no real special abilities other than he can hover over water, which gives him an advantage whenever the tracks aren't frozen over with the weather system, but his handling is atrocious and he's basically just a joke character compared to the other Metal series characters. I honestly headcanon that Tails Doll is a hackjob robot clone made with a teddy bear because Eggman needed to fill the quota.
Given the graphical limitations and obscurity of the game prior to its re-release on GameCube, the design is a bit off putting at first because of just how much of a liminal space experience a lot of 90s 3D games were back in the day. Not helping is that he's got no expression with his face, his prize screen (you win with a character, you get an exclusive render to glimpse) looks like a sleep paralysis demon, and his manner of propulsion is that he navigates with his head or gem and the rest of his body just dangles lifelessly.
Now, here's the thing. Back in the early to mid 2000s, there was a bit of a trend. A precursor to Creepypasta, if you will. A bit of a joke among the Fandom that quickly evolved into a full blown lore that we all had a bit of a hand in creating. Long before the days of Sonic.exe, we had something called the "Tails Doll Curse", a selection of fictional stories user submitted that chronicled the supposed misfortune of all those who dared to "summon" the doll.
Methods vary for this set up, but were usually rehashes of popular urban legends, say for example: play the music backwards in a dark bathroom at 3am while facing the mirror to summon him like Bloody Mary, or simply beating the game with only Tails Doll, and you could supposedly banish him back by collecting all the Time Stones in "Sonic CD" (because the game was packed in the GameCube collection disc), or placing some Shadow the Hedgehog merch in all the corners of your bedroom, since apparently Shadow was the only one powerful enough to ward off the doll.
Y'know, typical stupid 2000s teens stuff.
At some point, this became a bit of a meme in the general Fandom. A common trend was the Hidden Tails Doll shorts in the original flash version of the "Sonic Shorts" collection, which were accessible by clicking Easter Eggs at specific points during the cartoons, and much of them were later uploaded on their own:
These shorts really tapped into that early Ow The Edge Hot Topic Teens Ooh Its Spooky And So Mature Now sort of trend, because we were a little whack back then. I mean, when you got cool shows airing like "Courage the Cowardly Dog" and "Invader Zim", you're gonna breed a bizzare sense of humor at some point, coupled with some of that "hyper realistic blood".
To note, at this point, Tails Doll was still canonically a harmless doll, but we fans built him up as some eldritch abomination as a bit of a joke amongst ourselves. The fanart and fangames and fan projects that centered around this concept blew up in tandem. Oh, who could forget the "Tails' Nightmare" fangame series, that was a high quality flash game with solid physics and mechanics and replay value:
So, as you can see, there was a trend in making this doll just creepy as all heck for no reason. Even the Sonic comics published by Archie got in on that:
It was very clear that they were aware of the trend. And that led to probably one of the most insane alternate official interpretations of any character I have ever seen
Holy geeze, this was a kids comic book. By the way, "Schlurp" was a common sound effect used in those early spooky stories when this trend began, alongside "Shrumpy" and "Sclorch", as a way to indicate that something organic was under that plush. It's very clear the writers were aware of this Fandom joke.
Although Tails Doll doesn't make much of an appearance outside of a wink and nod to those old fans from back in the day, it should be notable that, in addition to appearing in fanart that was posted in the "Sonic and the Black Knight" celebration sideshow in-game, Tails Doll has made two prominent cameos since then:
As an Easter Egg in Sonic's levels for "Lego Dimensions" (I should point out that the developer for LD was "Traveler's Tales", who also developed "Sonic R", so this was a fun nod to one of thier older games).
And as a piece of decor in the Sonic the Hedgehog Minecraft Mashup Map Pack.
At the end of the day, tho, Tails Doll is just a little wierd doll that never did anything wrong, but we villainized him for spits and giggles and managed to keep his legacy running far longer than the game he was originally from.
I doubt anyone would even remember "Sonic R" much if it wasn't for just how off putting Tails Doll looked with his wall eyed stare, large zipper on his back, and an honestly cute looking design that should have been an actual piece of merch, I would have paid money to have a huggable version of this little dude, maybe have the gem light up or something when you squeeze him, or use the zipper in the back for a pouch to stash your kiddie treasures in.
So yeah, Tails Doll might have actually been the source for the earliest of video game Creepypastas, and probably had more influence in the Fandom and official content than Sonic.exe could have ever hoped to accomplish. We all just decided one day this one particular character was hell incarnate, and it's really amusing to see that it's becoming so far removed from its roots that some people aren't aware that he's actually a real canon character. 😆
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Eldrich/Cosmic Horror/Lovecraftian Themed Games
Still a WIP and not everything has been sorted yet.
Major Theme (Serious/Horror):
Alan Wake
Alone in the Dark Franchise
Alpha Polaris : A Horror Adventure Game
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs
Anchorhead
Aquaria
Arcane Mystery Serial (Link goes to the first episode, the rest of the series can be found in the sidebar)
Arkham Nightmares
Astray
At the Mountains of Madness (Early Access)
Ayumi: Enhanced Edition
Bayonetta (The creator the angels keep going on about isn’t an Abrahamic god...)
Blackbay Asylum
Bloodborne
Bloodrayne 1 & 2
The Breach
Call of Cthulhu: The Official Video Game (Upcoming game due 2018)
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (Basically an adaptation of the Shadow Over Insmouth with slightly less racism, the PC port is very buggy because it was made by literally one person after studio closures, but there are fan patches to help.)
Call of Cthulhu: Prisoner of Ice
Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet
Cards of Cthulhu
Cata Cthulhu
Chronicle of Innsmouth
Chrono Trigger & Chrono Cross
Chzo Mythos (Yahtzee’s adventure series)
Clive Barker’s Jerico
Clive Barker’s The Undying
Clockwork Express
Conarium
The Consuming Shadow
Crawl
Cryostasis: Sleep of Reason
Crysis Franchise
CTHON
CthulhuMud
cthulhu fhtagn
Cthulhu Realms
Cult of Cthulhu (Mod for Plague Inc. Evolved)
Daily Chthonical
Dark Scavenger
Darkwood (Early Access)
The Dark Stone from Mebara
Darkest Dungeon
The Darkness Within Franchise
Dark Souls Franchise
Dawn of War
Dead Space Franchise
Deadly Premonition
Demon’s Souls
Dead by Daylight
Deathstate
Demonbane Franchise
Demon’s Souls
Discworld: Noir
Doorways: Holy Mountains of Flesh
Downwell
Earnest Evans Franchise (Hastur)
The Elder Scrolls Franchise (Most obviously with House Dagoth in Morrowind and Skyrim’s Dragonborn DLC)
Elder Sign: Omens
Elder Sign: Portents
Eldrich (Roguelike where you explore a library and enter worlds inside several Lovecraft books)
Eldritch Hunter
Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem
Euclidean
Eversion
The Evil Within
Evolve
Fallen London
Fallout 3: Point Lookout (DLC)
FEAR Franchise (Alma herself)
Ghostbusters: The Video Game
Gloom (2017, not to be confused with the 90s Amiga Doom clone)
Green Mirror
Grim Dawn
Half-Life Franchise
Haunted Hotel 4
The Hound of Shadow (Text Adventure)
The Hunt for the Red Cthulhu
The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker
Inner Voices
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
The King of Shreds and Patches (Text Adventure)
Kingdom Hearts (The Heartless, The Nobodies and Kingdom Hearts itself)
Kingdom of Loathing
The Last Door Franchise
Layers of Fear (This is really up to interpretation of the game’s plot but it uses many of the traditional story devices associated with “lovecraftian” horror and there are rats in the walls.)
LIMBO
Lobotomy Corporation (Early Access)
Lost Souls (MUD)
The Lurking Horror (Text Adventure)
Lusternia (free 2 play MMO)
Magrunner: Dark Pulse
The Majesty of Colors
Mansions of Madness (free steam version of the board game)
Marathon Franchise
The Moaning Words
Monria (MMO)
Mystery Of Mortlake Mansion
Mystery Stories: Mountains of Madness
Mythos: The Beginning
Muv-Luv Franchise
Nasuverse Franchise (This includes games like Fate/stay night and Tsukihime)
Necronomicon (An old Japanese game, haven’t found an English translation yet, but including for completeness)
Necronomicon: The Dawning of Darkness
The Necronomicon & Necronomicon - Book of Dead Names
Nexus War (defunct) & Nexus Clash
Nightmare on Azathoth
The Nightmare from Beyond
NoseBound
Oracle of Tao
Oxenfree
Pandora's Tower
Parasite Eve Franchise
The Park (Set in the same universe as The Secret World)
Path of Exile
Pathways into Darkness
Penumbra Franchise (From the same developer as Amnesia: The Dark Descent)
Phantasmal: Survival Horror Roguelike aka Phantasmal: City of Darkness
Phoenix Point (Upcoming 2018)
Poacher
Pony Island (It’s the Devil rather than a Lovecraftian style monster, but it features many of the usual devices)
Prey (2006)
Prey (2017)
Prototype Franchise
Quake (Shub-Niggurath)
Quest Fantasy
Red Haze
Resident Evil 4 (others in the franchise may qualify but 4 is the most obvious)
Reveal the Deep
The Rise of Cthulhu: Demo
Robert D. Anderson and the Legacy of Cthulhu
Rogue Stormers
Sanity: Aiken's Artifact
Saya no Uta (A man has an accident that makes him perceive normal people as horrendous eldrich monstrosities and then he meets a girl who... looks like a pretty girl. Rape and sexual assault warnings.)
SCP Foundation Games
The Secret World (MMO)
Secret World Legends
Shadow Hearts Franchise
Shadow Over Isolation
Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened
Shikkoku No Sharnoth (Looking at screenshots I think this one might involve tentacles. Possible sexual assault warning.)
Shin Megami Tensei Franchise (including Persona 1, 2, and 3)
Shoggoth Rising
Shrouded In Sanity
The Shrouded Isle
Silent Hill Franchise (The town itself is alive even before you consider all the other thingies)
The Sinking City (upcoming game)
Siren (aka Forbiden Siren) Franchise
Skullgirls
Sons of Uruzime
South of Real
Splatterhouse
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Franchise
Strife
The Suffering Franchise
Sunless Sea
System Shock 2 (The Many)
Tales From the Void
Tattletail
The Terrible Old Man
They Bleed Pixels
They Breathe
This Book Is A Dungeon
Tormentum - Dark Sorrow
Transistor
Twisted Lands: Shadow Town
Undertale
Utawarerumono Franchise
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
VHS
Wait - Extended
We Need to Go Deeper
The Whisperer in Darkness
The Worry of Newport (Mod for Crysis 1)
X-COM: Terror From the Deep
Themed but Comedy/Non-Horror:
Army of Tentacles Franchise
Baobabs Mausoleum Ep. 1 Ovnifagos Don´t Eat Flamingos
The Bizarre Adventures Of Woodruff And The Schnibble
Cthulhu Saves the World
Flappy Monsters of Lovecraft
Hearthstone: Whispers Of The Old Gods
Howard Phillips Lovecar (Early Access)
Leave Cthulhu Alone
Lovecraft Word Search
Magicka: The Stars Are Left (DLC)
Mormonoids from the Deep
Pray For Death (Playable Cthulhu)
Project Starship
The Rapture Is Here And You Will Be Forcibly Removed From Your Home
Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse
Tesla vs Lovecraft
Where is the Lovecraft?
Wynken, Blynken, Cthulhu, and Nod
Minor appearances:
Age of Decadence
Ancient Domains of Mystery aka ADOM
Baldur’s Gate 2 (Planar travel, the Demogorgon, and probably the final boss)
Battleborn
Beyond Good and Evil
The Binding of Isaac Franchise
Blood Franchise
Borderlands Franchise (Some of the vaults have big nasties in them, some of the raid bosses also qualify)
Bravely Default
Breath of Fire IV
Castlevania Franchise
Cookie Clicker
Copy Kitty
Crusader Kings II (Yes, really)
Cultist Simulator
Deadly Rooms of Death aka DROD Franchise
Destiny (The Vex and The Darkness)
Destiny: The Taken King (Raid bosses)
Dishonored Franchise
Defense of the Ancients aka DotA Franchise
Dragon Age Franchise
Drakengard Franchise
Dungeons & Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun
Dwarf Fortress
Pikmin Franchise (Final bosses)
Elona
Epic Mickey
Etrian Odyssey Franchise
Everlong
Fable (Jack of All Blades)
Fable III (The Crawler)
Fable: The Journey
Fatal Frame 2 (An optional boss in Survival Mode is the malice from the hellgates made manifest, rather than a ghost)
Final Fantasy Franchise (It would be easier to list which games don’t have some kind of cosmic horror eldritch abomination things in them. The most obvious ones are Jenova, Sin, and The Cloud of Darkness)
Five Nights At Freddy’s Franchise
Grey Goo
Guild Wars Franchise
Half-Life Franchise
Halo Franchise
Hatoful Boyfriend Franchise
Homeworld: Cataclysm
Immortal Defense
Jak 3: Wastelander
Knights and Dragons
La-Mulana
Legacy of Kain Franchise
League of Legends
The Legend of Spyro: Dawn Of The Dragon
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
LittleBigPlanet 2
Lunar: Eternal Blue aka Lunar 2
Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al-Revis
Mass Effect Franchise
Metroid Franchise
Minecraft: Story Mode
Mother Franchise
Mugen Souls Franchise
NeverWinter Nights 2
Paradigm
Pathologic
Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium
Pokemon Platinum
Return to Krondor (The God of Evil)
Rift (MMO)
RuneScape
SaGa 3 aka Final Fantasy Legend III
Scribblenauts Franchise (You can summon Cthulhu and Shogoths)
Septerra Core: Legacy of the Creator
Shadow of the Colossus (becomes more and more obvious towards the end of the game)
Slash Em Extended
SMITE
Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
SoulCalibur Franchise (The Soul Edge and SoulCalibur themselves)
Stories Untold
Terraria
Thief: The Dark Project & Thief: Deadly Shadows
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines
Warcraft 3
The Witcher (Dagon)
World of Warcraft
Xenogears
Xenosaga Franchise
Easter Eggs only:
Civilisation VI (A steam achievement)
PAYDAY 2 (A Cthulhu mask)
Dating Eldrich Monsters (both serious and non-serious):
Cthulhu Saves the World
Demonbane Franchise
Dra+Koi
Saya no Uta (A man has an accident that makes him perceive normal people as horrendous eldrich monstrosities and then he meets a girl who... looks like a pretty girl. Rape and sexual assault warnings.)
Unsorted:
Sonic Adventure
Sonic: Unleashed
Space Station 13
Spectrobes Franchise
The Stanley Parable
Star Control Franchise
Starbound
StarCraft
Star Wars: The Old Republic
Stellaris
Sundered
Sword of the Stars Franchise
Tales of Vesperia
Tentacult!
Turok Franchise
Touhou Franchise
UFO Afterblank
Warcraft Franchise
Warframe
Warriors Orochi
We Know the Devil
Ys Franchise
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